


In Search of Light

by Friend_of_Ingo



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Cutesy, Emotional, Gen, Heartwarming, Mild Peril, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, Pain, but good will out, fan character (I'm sorry!)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6896590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Friend_of_Ingo/pseuds/Friend_of_Ingo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Its the beginning of autumn, Summer was a sweet relief for the guardians, Pitch was defeated, darkness had been pushed back to the limits and North could now concentrate on Christmas. But with Halloween near, and a fallen star, the guardians have to train a new recruit - before the darkness creeps back in. </p>
<p>But it won't be easy, as they don't really know what her purpose is and she can't remember and.... </p>
<p>Well just gonna have to find out ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The beginning of autumn had come round again. For most that was a time of light and wonder, summer was over and Christmas felt infinitely closer. Excitement could be felt across the world and children were counting down the days until Santa Claus came to town. Everyone was excited, well almost everyone; everyone that is except Santa Claus. He was stressed. There were only 3 months – well technically 2 months and 25 days to go – and like every year that had passed, and every year that was yet to come; he felt underprepared.

“Christmas will not be happening this year! There is too much to do, and too little time to do it!” 

He wailed to his right hand yeti, Phil, who tried to comfort him but was hampered because it was really difficult to comfort someone when all you could do was grunt and moan. But he felt that he was getting through to the ol’ man.   
Mountains of toy soldiers loomed over as he strode down the gallery of the toyshop, and North, as he was known to his friends, nodded with satisfaction at the designs of the toys. 

“Maybe you’re right. All I needs to do is not panic. Argh! Why are you alvays under foot? Constantly with bells – ding, ding, ding. It gives me headache! “ 

He was referring to the bells on the elves’ hats, a design flaw in the eyes of Santa, who was always getting headaches from the constant – non-stop – ringing that echoed around the North Pole palace. 

“Why do we keep them?” He asked Phil as he watched a small group of elves collect several broken light bulbs, dip them in paint and then throw glitter over the dripping fluorescent bulbs and mainly themselves. Phil shrugged, uttering some non-descript growl. 

“Da, you’re right. They’d cause more problems if they weren’t under our employment,” he watched them waddle round, “they’d turn into pixies and the lepra – 

He was interrupted as one of the elves stumbled up to him. “Lovely, well done. Oh! For me? Thank you.”

He a slight grimace flicked across his face as he was handed a glittery, dripping yellow light bulb. He worked out a smile.   
“Back to work now.”

A jingle could be heard as the little elf nodded with glee and then waddled back to his friends, to start mass producing wet, glittery yellow light bulbs.

“Stop that smirking.” Santa snapped.

“Roawhmm?” Phil’s eye went wide with mock innocence.

They both walked out into the main chamber of the workshop and North watched as his team of yetis pulled ropes and pulleys and mountains of presents of all different sizes, colours and sounds were suspended in air, hovering for just a second then whirling round in the annual waltz of the presents. The sight never stopped to amaze him, in all the years he brought wonder to the children of the world he brought amusement and wonder to himself. The arctic sunlight came through the skylight causing the gifts to shine that created a light display that dazzled so brightly it could blind you. 

In the light, he saw all that had been made but, more importantly, he saw all that was still left to be done and turned to Phil. He went to bark more orders when out of the corner of his eye, North saw a shadow darken the globe in the centre of the grotto. Darkness shrouded all of them and a blood-curdling scream echoed through the North Pole, sending shivers down everyone’s spines. 

“What was that?” He said to no one in particular.

The scream pierced through Santa’s heart but ended as abruptly as it started. In its wake the echoes reverberated across the arctic. All the workers stopped and as one turned their eyes on to the globe.   
Santa walked to the globe and watched it for any sign of explanation. But there was none to be found. The globe started to move again and its lights still shone brightly, oblivious to the shadow that had just threatened them.   
Santa turned to face his workforce; his bushy white eyebrows were knitted together in thought. The globe seemed fine; there was no cause for alarm. But he could still hear the death-wrangling scream. 

“Roaawm?” Phil just moved slightly when Santa raised his thick hand.   
“Send out the lights.” Santa ordered. With his words, movement rippled through the gathered crowd and soon the Northern lights channelled up through the globe and shone out into the Arctic sky. The translucent lights swept over the horizons sending forth his summons to his allies. He walked up the levels, not looking at the toys or their makers, but instead his mind was trapped within a memory from eons ago. That voice. He had heard it before. But he couldn’t remember. Not anymore. That was why he wanted the other guardians here; he hoped Sandy or Tooth memories were better than his. He shut the door to his office and waited. 

He didn’t have to wait for long. From his window he heard the flittering of thousands of wings that signalled the entrance of Toothiana, the resident Tooth Fairy. He burst through the heavy oak door and was swamped by her legion of tiny fairies. The grotto was filled with the shimmering colours of blues and greens as Tooth’s Legion swirled to halt and Tooth hovered to a stop in front of him. 

“Nice of you to drop by Tooth.” He smiled. 

“North! Why have you called us here? You do realise that I have approximately 2,563, 123 teeth to take care of right now?”

“Ah, Tooth, you have plenty of little tooth fairy’s to take care of that.” 

“Yes, but I’m not there. I promised myself that I would see more of the children.” Her wings drooped slightly as she said those words.

North looked grave. “I understand. I do, but I would not have called you here if it weren’t serious.” 

Tooth fluttered down to stand next to him and looked up into his blue eyes. “What happened?” 

She watched his thick eyebrows knit together, shaking his head. “Not yet.”

She impatiently fluttered her wings, and soon flew around muttering to herself and her squadron of baby Tooths; number that were incomprehensible to anyone apart from fairies. North was too distracted to care as he heard large resounding thuds on the wooden stairs. 

“Crikey mate! Out o’ the way, I can’t feel my feet.” Bunny pushed passed the old man and hopped quickly to the fire; rolling to stop with his feet hanging in the air as close to the flames as he could bear. There was the aromatic smell of bunny feet accompanied by a soft hint of singed fur. Bunnymund didn’t care; the lush sensation that spread from his toes as feeling returned was too nice. He sighed, closing his eyes. But it didn’t last long. 

“AH!” Coldness hit him with a blast. His ears twitched and he shook the ice out of his eyes. He soon discerned a blurry outline of a young boy in a hoodie. 

“Why you bloody snow breather!” He jumped, boomerangs at the ready to fire at a grinning Jack Frost. 

“What? You looked like you needed to cool down!” The young boy laughed as he ducked out of the way of a flying boomerang; flying up into the rafters as Bunnymund launched himself at him. 

“Enough of this!” North roared. “This is no time to joke and laugh about. This is serious.” The large man crossed his arms and stared hard at the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost. “Bunny, let him go. Jack? No more snowballs.” They both looked at the man of the North, and noticed the large cutlasses that were strapped to his belt. Slowly, Bunny dropped Jack back down. 

“Alright mate…” with one more glare at Jack, he asked, “why are we here?” 

“He won’t tell us until we’re all here.” Tooth chimed in, still fluttering around.

“Sandy!” North bellowed; genuinely happy to see his old friend. Sandy grinned and a blur of golden images rotated just above his head. 

“Yes, I know you were busy. You all are busy but,” he sighed. “This is important.” 

“Hmm, some are more busy than others mate.” Bunny said, looking at Jack who looked as innocent as possible whilst he made a small ice patch in front of the giant rabbit. 

“Enough. Follow me. There is something you must see.” North led them away, up to the globe; ignoring the cry and thud as Bunny slipped down. 

“Frost!” 

“I didn’t do anything!” 

North ignored the commotion behind him and led them to the globe that still gracefully turned; the little lights shining happily away.

“Look at the globe.” 

“The globe? Is that why we’re here mate? To look at the bloody globe?!” 

“I called you here because something is not right. Look at globe again, and tell me if I crazy. But does it not seem dull to you?” North focused hard on the globe, his eyes crossing with the level of concentration. 

Silence fell across the group, as they all one by one studied the giant globe. All that could be heard was the fluttering of Tooth’s and her little Tooths’ wings. Jack was the first to break it.

His shoulders fell. “Nope. There’s nothing wrong with it. Its spinning, its shining…I don’t get it.” 

“Why don’t you tell us what’s wrong instead of trying to get us to guess.” Tooth asked quietly. 

“That’s just it. I can’t, not really.” And North told them the story; the shadow that swamped his grotto and the globe and the scream that plunged his inner depths into icy fear. He didn’t tell them what terrified him most; the clawing of a distant memory that he knew the voice that struck him so. It left him feeling desolate. If he knew the voice, he knew the woman; she was clearly in distress. He could have prevented that. 

“But who’s the woman mate?” Bunny’s ears twitched.

“I don’t know. But she is part of this, of our world – I think – how else would I hear that?” Cramp started to twitch in his hands, he hadn’t realised how tight he had been clenching them. “Can you think of anyone it might be?” He asked the older guardians. 

Whilst they conferred between them, going through the list of other magical beings, Jack looked back at the globe. He liked the way it turned, relentless. It would not stop for anyone. From the corner of his eye he saw light soon flood the galley. Moonlight. He walked over to the moon dial that was laid in the floor and watched as the silvery light touched the panel and transformed into shadows.

“Guys? You better look at this.” He was transfixed by the movements the Moon cast but he couldn’t make sense of them. He felt a strong hand clasp his shoulder as North came to stand next to him. Jack’s friends circled round him and they all watched Moon’s shadows dance into stories. 

They started to blur together when one image drew their attention. It was that of a star, stood prominently next to the moon but as the images moved, they watched the narrative a fallen star. 

Bunny whistled, whilst Tooth and Sandy looked at each other and North held Jack’s shoulder in a vice grip, threatening to crush the joint. When it was too unbearable to watch, he abruptly let go of Jack’s shoulder and turned away; blinking the harsh tears out of his eyes. 

“She’s fallen? Is that even possible?” Tooth asked. 

“I didn’t think it was... I mean… She’s part of the fabric of time, older than us; near to that of Manny. No. He must be wrong.” Bunny asserted; folding his arms to give him that added gravitas.

“Look.” North whispered. He pointed up, through the roof panel, up to the evening sky. The sky still had traces of sunlight but the amber hues burned across, lighting up patches of cloud and behind them a blanket of stars began to emerge behind the Moon. Tooth gasped. 

“What are we looking at?” Jack exasperated. 

“The evening star mate, its gone.” Bunny’s ears were flat, and so was his voice. He noticed Jack’s puzzlement. “The evening star… the Pole star… Christ! The bloody North STAR!” 

“That’s a guardian?” Sandy rolled his eyes at Jack’s cry.

“Struth! She!” Bunny cried. “She’s a guardian!.. Was a guardian. She – “ Bunny was distracted by Sandy who began frantically signing messages to North, who nodded; absently agreeing to him. 

“I know, I know. I don’t know what to do either - But how? Or when? I don’t know.”

“This is bad.” Tooth whispered. “To bring down Polaris – you’d have to be powerful and to do it without anyone knowing – who could do that?” She looked at the others, none of them had answers. Sandy blew his cheeks out and shook his head, watching the little grains of golden sand fall. 

Jack moved his eyes from one to the other. He sighed out in frustration and drove his staff onto the floor. A blast of ice-cold wind whipped through the grotto. “Can someone PLEASE explain what is going on?”

The others looked at each other, silently debating who would tell the story. Tooth was the one, She hovered over to him. 

“You see Jack, she – Polaris – she was created eons ago; just after the Man in the Moon began to watch over the children of the Earth. Her power was great, second only to the Moon, many revered her – guardians and humans; both adults and children looked up to her for advice and guidance. Though, I suppose not so much now.” She paused to look back at her friends. “Now it’s just the nursery rhyme that keeps her in the thoughts of children.” 

“Star light. Star bright?” Jack asked. He couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. He thought that WAS just a nursery rhyme.

“Yes. One of her roles was to grant wishes. But she protected us through her light. They both did. Her light was constant; she would shine down and push back the darkness.” 

Around him, Jack saw his fellow guardians shrink with grief. They had lost one of their own and had not realised it until it was too late.

“But we still have him.” He gestured at the Moon’s beams that shrouded over them as if in comfort. He still looks out for us, and them, pointing at the globe. 

North holstered himself up, back to his towering height. He drew in a deep breath. “This is true. Whilst we have him, the light will not fade.” Bunny looked back at the panel, musing on the shapes. He frowned as he watched them move. 

He sniffed the air, “I think you might have another problem, mate.”

“What?” North spun round to face Bunny, his brow furrowed. 

“Manny’s waning right?” 

“Yes.” 

“Come and have a look at this.” They all stared at the shadows that the Moon was now casting down; he showed them his diminishing self, a natural occurrence that no one had control over but then it was followed by Jack O’Lantern. 

“Blyad! Hallow’s Eve!” 

Jack sighed. “Again, explanation please.” 

“Hallow’s Eve, isn’t just about sweets and tricks, right?” Bunny answered as North and Tooth began pacing round the galley, thinking what the plan was to be. “It’s deadly serious for us. It’s the moment where the line between the Light and Darkness becomes weak. In the past, we – “ he slapped Jack on the chest. “We bring the light. And that’s what Polaris did, her light being constant kept the darkness back, the last of it. That’s why they worked together, Polaris and Manny. He has to disappear every month but her light remained. But this Halloween…”

“There’ll be no light.” Jack answered.

“Exactly. And without their light, Darkness can break through the chains, no problem. And where there’s darkness…”

Jack’s eyes went wide. “There’s Pitch.” He whispered. He looked back at the globe, at the lights. “So what do we do?” 

Bunny shrugged. “Got any ideas big man?” He called across to North. Sandy jumped up and pointed back at the Moon. But they didn’t see, or hear. Silently swearing to himself he picked up one of the elves and shook him up and down to catch their attention. 

Tooth flew over to the panel and looked at what was being shown, “he says there is someone but …” She cocked her head as she read the silver messages, “But we have to teach it to be a new star, in time for Halloween.” She paused in mid-air, her brows knitted together. “That’s a month. Can we do that?” 

She looked at the others; Jack raised his eyebrows, Bunny and Sandy glanced at each other, calculating what it would take and not believing in the results. Only North looked determined.

“We have no other choice.”


	2. And so it begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guardians have to find the new star but she might not be so willing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys like it please let me know, any feedback is welcome! Its been a while since I have written and I know that its a little rusty so yeah, any comments or feedback etc would be great, so I can work on making my writing as good as can possibly be
> 
> Cheers :)

After that North shook his shoulders and turned into the North they all knew; a big, blustering Russian leader who ordered his comrades out onto the four corners of the world: each with the task of finding this new guardian. Bunny and Sandy took the South and East, Tooth headed straight for the Western hemispheres and Jack rode the fastest, strongest Northern wind he could find and circled round the Northern reaches of the Earth; scanning for a star. 

Already, the darkness was clawing its way through the old barriers. No longer repelled by the Moon and the Star; it could work its way through into the hearts of the humans and the hearts of children. The Moon warned of the guardians of what could be if they failed. For they weren’t the only ones alerted to her presence. 

Jack had been searching, scanning the skies and the land for … he didn’t know how long; the sun had set hours before and all he could see was inky blue blackness that comes with a still night.

“What does a star even look like?” He cried to no one in particular. 

Far below he made out the distant shimmers of an ocean; its waves were mere ripples of a pond to him, so far up he soared, that on any other night he would have raced the clouds home. But not this night…

“No, I have to look for your star!” He muttered to the Moon, whose rays crept through the night sky. 

He blinked the rain out of his eyes and continued his search, looking for any sign of a star; whatever a star looked like. His eyes were scratchy with tiredness. 

“You always have to be mysterious don’t you? You can’t find the star; you can’t teach the star…oh no you have to get us to do it. You won’t do any of the hard work.” Jack threw up to the Moon. “What? Do you have nothing to say? Big surprise…” 

He continued muttering up to the silent Moon, who watched from the heavens above, listening.

“You never make it easy for us. You can’t explain in simple terms what we have to do, no – its got to be a quest, a journey of self-discovery –well I don’t want one! Not right now. I’m still recovering from the la –Argh!” 

The winds shifted, bucking Jack off. Down he fell, tumbling as he tried to rope the winds back under control but they twisted under his grasp and slipped through his fingers. Over his shoulder, he could see the ground coming nearer – fast. Very fast. In one desperate attempt, he grappled with the winds one more time but to no avail.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me!”

All he could do was brace for impact now. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, gripping his staff tight and waited. The air flooded passed him, filling his senses, drowning out any normality.

Nothing. 

Nothing happened. 

Was he still falling? He didn’t want to look in case he was. He breathed in deep, sucking in the air to cushion the blow, yet still nothing; what is going on? Jack glimpsed through one eyelid, all he saw was a rolling blanket of clouds, high up above. He had fallen down.

But why did he not hit the ground? 

Tentatively, he put one hand down and jumped up as the tips of his fingers touched the spiky heads of grass. Slowly, he was levitated on to the soft grass. A deep rumble ran through his body. 

“You did that on purpose.” He muttered, looking up at the silent Moon. 

The rumble turned into laughter. Jack smiled. Not so silent anymore are you? 

“Ok old man, where have you dropped me?” He looked around, his eyes narrowed to peer into the murk. Mist rolled in, swamping him in black greyness. It clawed at him. It was all her could see but slowly, the landscape took shape and he could discern features. Somewhere, the wind blew; a high pitched whistle floating on the air and further off, there was the beating of a drum. He walked in front; tentatively putting one foot in front of the other lest he fell into trouble.  
He was glad he did. When his right foot fell into air, he realised where he was. 

Jack stood on top of a weather beaten cliff, sand and reed scratched at his feet. From what he could see, there were the ruins of a tower standing tall on the headland; a beacon perhaps, its light long gone but still a marker for weary travellers. He walked around the tower, his hand trailing along the stone work, feeling every crack, marvelling at the strength of the tower. He flicked his hand and watched as the spider web of frost crept from his touch. 

He liked doing that.

Below, the waves crashed onto the rocks causing the ruins to hum to the vibrations, the winds whistling through the cracks adding to the orchestra. Jack closed his eyes, breathing in the sea air, salty and sweet at the same time; for the first time in the night he relaxed. Looking around, he saw there were no other signs of life; apart from the ruins and the odd rabbit hole. Why had the Moon put him here? Jack looked up, about to ask when a light blinded him. Shaking out the red dots, he saw a swirl of colour grow from nothing and from the centre out walked a yeti, growling.

Jack walked up to him, head tilted to one side. “How did you find me?” 

“Roahhw nogosard”

“Awww, you thought of me? How sweet.” Jack laughed as Bill’s furry eyebrows clamped together. He stretched up to reach Bill’s  
face and whispered; “don’t deny it! You care about me.” He collapsed with glee as Bill pulled back and lost his foot in a rabbit hole, tears rolled down Jack’s face as he watched the tall Yeti struggle to free himself, his fur wobbling with the struggle. Jack didn’t see him free himself, but he saw the yeti barrelling down on him, arms outstretched. He only managed to jump out of the way of the angry yeti; he readied himself to jump again but got distracted by the Moon. Jack saw his rays beam down onto the beach. Something inside Jack told him to pay attention. 

With one stern look, he got Bill to stop attacking him and they both crept to the edge of the cliff, looking down where the moonlight spilled out. 

The waves shimmered in the light, caressing the beach, raking its claws over and dragging the sand back into the sea. In the moonlight, the water turned silvery blue and its movement was mesmerising. Jack only watched the water, captivated by its power and energy. It wasn’t until Bill’s sharp elbow jab that he saw the girl crawl out from the breaking waters.

From this height, Jack couldn’t see much of her, not in close detail but he could tell, she had little –in fact – she had no clothes on. Heat rose up his cheeks – he told himself he shouldn’t look but he couldn’t help himself, he was captivated. And, so was Bill. 

She looked stumbled round and looked back, up at the Moon, her body language attentive – she was listening to something, or rather someone. Only then did she look down and realise she was naked, Jack couldn’t help but giggle when he heard her yelp as she dived back into the water, covering herself in the waves. 

Then it happened. The Moon’s rays grew brighter and his light swamped the night sky. In gentle strokes, the Moon combined the silver of the water, the movement of the waves and the light of his magic to create her. Her skin grew paler and more iridescent as it absorbed the moonlight and the sea’s reflections; till she glowed from it. Her hair became free from its watery tangle and floated behind, cascading down her back. She stood up and stumbled, once more, out of the water, staring down at herself. She was no longer naked. Instead, from the spray of the waves and the Moon’s radiance, there was formed a silver, shimmering skirt that trailed down from her legs. Where the water crashed over her, formed a material that wrapped around her torso which fell into the skirt. In the sand, in the middle of the night; a star was born.

Jack’s jaw dropped. He had never witness the birth of a guardian before. He looked up to the Moon, whose light still wrapped around the girl holding her in comfort, in new found respect. Next time he wouldn’t be so rude to him. 

“Yooahm?” Steve whispered, still shaken by what he’d just saw. 

“Yeah, I know.” Jack lightly jumped into the air, the wind was a mere breeze and he floated down to the girl, as gently as he could so he wouldn’t scare her. 

He landed in front of her, but she looked back to sea, where she had come from.

“You’re her, aren’t you?” He whispered, tip-toeing closer. “You’re the star?” 

“What?” Her voice echoed, as if trapped from a distance. Her head moved and she looked at Jack, took him in – her eyes went wide and she instinctively stepped back. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you – its ok.” He didn’t know why, but he raised his hand up to her as if she were a skittish animal. 

“I’m here to take you to safety.” 

He frowned as he saw her chest, where her heart was beamed an eight pointed star which pulsed in rhythm to her heartbeat. 

“What?” She repeated. “Who are you? Why are you here?” Her star flashed. 

“I’m Jack Frost.” 

She frowned. “Jack Frost?” She looked at him as if he were mad. “Who are you really?” 

“Jack Frost.” 

“I don’t believe you. Now, go away.” 

Jack sighed and raised his staff, making an elaborate play with his moves and then brought it down. The moment it touched the sand ice raced out, its webs more intricate than the last, spreading out towards the girl. When the ice touched her feet she gasped. 

“Look, it’s a lot to take in I know, but you are, you are – well you’re the North Star and I am Jack Frost – he is the Man in the Moon and me and my friends have been looking for you. All I need you to do is not panic and come with me, where you’ll be safe and everything will explained to you.” 

She stepped back even further, her breathing was fast. “Star? What star?” 

“The North Star, Evening Star, Pole Star – Polaris – take your pick, now … please.” He stretched out his hand towards her. 

“Everything will be explained, I promise, but we need to get you safe first.” 

“NO!” She dodged out of his reach and turned around, frantically looking, trying to work out where she was. “No, I have to go home.”

“Home?” he called from behind.

“Yes, they’re expecting me, I can’t keep them waiting.” 

Jack faltered. “You remember your past life?” 

“Yes.” 

“You remember home?” He reiterated. 

She hesitated, staring up at the sky. “Describe it to me.” He moved closer to her.

“Its… Its…” She closed her eyes, trying to grab to the faint thread that held to the past. “My family are waiting, I have to go home.” 

“Tell me where home is and I will take you there.” He was beside her now, he could smell the sweet salt on her clothes and skin and he watched her skin transform into different colours, radiated from within her being.

“I – I don’t know…” she whispered, her eyes started to well.

“What’s your name?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know.” She repeated. Her brows drew together, her mouth moved silently, trying to piece together words.

“I can’t remember.” 

“Didn’t he give you one?” He gestured up to the Moon. His response was a shake of the head, her hair trailed behind, floating gently. He looked up, “why?” He mouthed to his creator. 

“It was dark, I dreamt of them but I couldn’t find them – then I woke up here.” She walked up the beach and Jack noticed that light trailed from her movements, a silvery path followed in her wake. At least she’d be easy to find in hide and seek, he thought. 

His mind came to when he saw her reach the dunes. Jack inhaled deeply and jumped back into the air, landing sharply in front of her.

“Look, I don’t want to hurry you but I have to take you back with me.” 

Finally, her eyes took him in, properly and Jack noticed the change in her. The star grew brighter and sharper. She looked at him with vehemence. 

“I don’t have time for this,” he grabbed her wrist. 

That was a mistake.

With her cries of protest, light shot out from the Star and hit him squarely in the chest. Like a loose firework, she threw sparks and daggers of light at him, so strong that he had to duck for cover. In defence, he threw the wind at her, whipping up the sand in her face, and threw back shots of ice. He ran out, his staff scouring the sand and in a sweeping motion threw up a wall of ice to stop her. With a shout, she crashed through the barrier, launching another attack on Jack. The star flashed and momentarily blinded him. 

“Leave me alone!” 

In response, Jack fired blasts back at her, his shots hitting their target. He drove her back towards the sea but she was relentless in her attack, sporadic and wild – Jack could feel the fear and rage within her. 

He flew into the air and began his attack from above. Surge upon surge of ice blasted from his staff. He spun in the air, knocking them down and down upon her, trying to get her to stop. 

“Listen. Listen to me! I’m not trying to hurt you.” Shots of light pierced the sky.

“Would you stop doing that?!” He screamed. 

He didn’t wait for a response but flew up high, summoning the wind up to full strength, and then he fell back towards Earth and the crazy star. Faster and faster he fell; positioning himself so he was directly above her and then using all the power he could, threw down an icy cage, slamming it on top of her. He clung to the sides and breathed into it, making it stronger and stronger.

“Look, I’m sorry!” he called through, “I shouldn’t have grabbed you! But,” he looked at his singed clothes, “you shouldn’t have thrown those light thingys. Call it a truce?” 

No response. He peered into the ice. 

“Hello?” His voice was muffled. “Can you hear me? Are y- oh no!” 

He didn’t have time to jump back as light pulsed through the ice reinforcements, shattering the cage and throwing him back onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Out walked the girl, breathing deeply, her hands clenched to her sides. The star radiated a deep purple. 

Jack tried to get up but he was unsteady on his feet, that blast had knocked him for six. His staff lay on the ground, lifeless, a few feet away. He went to get it but was knocked down by another blast, stronger than the last. Jack crawled up, shaking the fuzziness away. 

“Ok! You win. I won’t fight you no more.” 

He saw the girl’s stare fall past his shoulder. Her eyes went still with fear. Slowly, he turned around and watched shadows slide down the cliffs and run towards them. With every moment, they grew up out of the sand and formed into physical beings that scuttled towards them. They were deformed and grotesque, constantly moving, unable to control their movements.

“Oh, that’s not good.” 

The shadows twitched, seeming out of control but kept their black steely gaze on them. Or rather on her.  
Jack could see the tension grow in their twisted figures.  
“No, no… she’s not for you.” 

He pushed her out of the way as the first lunged. They made contact. Though the creatures were made of shadows, their talons cut through the air and caught his arm, drawing blood. He didn’t have time to fight back before he was pounced on by the rest of the creatures. Blackness drowned him, unable to breathe, Jack was suffocating. As he drew his last breathe, he saw from the gap in between the creatures blue light blast the pile away. Standing over him, was the girl. Her arms outstretched, drowning the darkness in her light, drawing it up within her. 

Though she rid the ones that threatened Jack, more creatures crept up from the sand to surround them. Jack, now on his feet, threw them back with blasts of winter and tried to keep them from her. They were drawn to her. Every one he knocked down, another popped up and leapt at the pair; he threw ice; she – not knowing how –threw up light. 

Jack looked up and saw the cloud cover begin to move. He waited, pulling the girl behind him as he timed his attack. Light came down as the Moon became free and Jack delved in deep within his core till he found what he was looking for; he arched his back and let the full power of Winter upon the dark beasts. Their sinister cries could be heard on the wind as they were blown apart, the particles melting into the night air. 

Jack opened his eyes and saw that for now, they were alone. He breathed out and hollered in relief. He turned to check on the girl, only to be hit in the face. 

“Ow!” Again, he was hit. Falling on to his back, he cried; “Stop it!” The air began to change, crackle with energy. Jack winced, bracing for the barrage he knew was coming. Why wouldn’t the girl just listen to him? 

Grabbing his staff, he rose to stand his ground but saw the girl lying on the ground. Perplexed he looked to see the reason and saw Bill standing over her prone body.

“What the - ? What did you do?” He asked Bill. Bill sheepishly lifted up the heavy branch in his hand. 

“You hit her?” He ran over to her prone body that lay face down and gently turned her over. Sand stuck to her skin. 

“GAsooorr” Was Bill’s answer. 

“Santa told you? Course he did.” 

He looked her over, trying to discern any damage but she was peaceful and still. Her breathing was regular, if shallow. The eight point star had faded down to light silver and it gently shined in rhythm with her pulse. Jack marvelled at her hair that floated separately from her, weightless; pale gold. Her skin was smooth to his touch and he could see the indentations of the water droplets on her skin, little beads of reflection; before they were transformed by the Moon.

“Everything about you shines, doesn’t it?” He looked once more. “Yep. You are definitely her.” He gathered up the girl in his arms. “Right, let’s get you to the grotto.” He made ready to fly.

“Roahm” 

“What?”

Bill pulled out a snow globe and shook it. “Where were you keeping that?” Jack asked bewildered and impressed.  
Bill shrugged and threw it into the waves. From where it landed, grew a large portal, the waves was sucked in, swirling in and around; peering down the gaping hole, Jack could see at the end, falling snow. He could smell egg nog and candy canes. Bill indicated that Jack should jump first. 

Jack looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms, pulled her tightly to him and jumped. A split second after so did Bill and the portal collapsed, causing Jack to lose sight of the tower that stood proudly on the headland. 

Down they fell in the darkness. The air was deafening as it whipped past them. They plummeted down, Jack held her closer to him; fearful that he’d lose his grip and she would drift away from them. One could get lost in the portals, trapped in the darkness. 

Jack heard a pop and looked down. Below them, the exit opened up and he heard the muffled voices of his friends. They had come back before him. He braced his legs for the landing. It wasn’t going to be pleasant. They fell into a heap; Jack on his butt, Bill flat on his face, luckily landing just next, not on top of him but Bill’s foot was dangerously close to his face.

“Bravo Jack! You found her” North’s voice boomed through the grotto and through Jack’s skull. He had landed hard, his body still shaking with the repercussions. 

“Crikey mate – what happened to you?” 

“It’s been a long night,” he winced. He didn’t want to know how he looked.

“I’m sure it has, but we cannot rest. We must complete our task.” And with that North began barking orders, whipping the grotto up into a flurry of movement as he put into motion his plans for the next month. 

In the cacophony of noise, Jack felt the girl stir and he looked down at her; her face was drawn tight, she could hear them and didn’t like what she heard but she didn’t wake up. Good, Jack thought. He knew she wouldn’t like what was happening, and he didn’t want to fight her again. Watching her struggle in her sleep, Jack grimaced. 

“I don’t want to be in your place.” 

Poor kid, at least he had had 300 years of having fun, no responsibilities. She had no idea what was happening and yet everyone expected her to step up and perform her duty as guardian. 

She’ll never have true peace, not now.

She twitched again and he found himself holding her closer, stroking her hair.

“Shh, I’ve got you,” he looked up at chaos that was rushing round them, North shouting up orders to his men, Bunny and Sandy disagreeing with each other and with what North was saying; and Tooth hovering round in a blur, muttering numbers to herself. 

Then he looked back at the girl in his arms, “I’m not leaving you.”


End file.
